Archives: Data Analytics

Last time, we reviewed the Justices’ agreement rates in divided criminal cases – how many times did each possible combination of Justices vote the same way in criminal cases with at least one dissenter. This time, we’re looking at the years 2002 through 2007. Justice Baxter’s agreement rate with Justice Moreno was 65.74%. He agreed … Continue Reading

Today, we’re continuing our review of the Justices’ agreement rates in divided criminal cases, this time looking at the data for the years 1996 through 2001. Justice Arabian had a 50% agreement rate with Justice Baxter, but 0% with Justice Mosk. Justice Baxter agreed with pro tem Justices half the time, but with Justice Mosk … Continue Reading

For the past two weeks, we’ve been reviewing the Justices’ agreement rates in civil cases since 1990, six years at a time. Today, we’ve reached the final post in that five-post series, as we take a look at the Court’s past five years. One caution – Justice Kennard is the highest agreement rate with most … Continue Reading

Following up on our five posts reviewing the Justices’ agreement rates in civil cases from 1990 to 2018, six years at a time, we now begin our trip through the criminal docket. Today: 1990 to 1995. In Table 804, we report the first fourteen combinations. Three combinations had an agreement rate in the nineties – … Continue Reading

Yesterday, we reviewed the data on the Justices’ agreement rates with each other in divided civil cases between 2002 and 2007. Today, we’re looking at the next six year period, from 2008 to 2013. One change from the last three posts – since five current-day Justices (if you include the recently retired Justice Werdegar) were … Continue Reading

Last week, we reviewed the Justices’ agreement rates in civil cases between 1990 and 1995 and 1996 to 2001. This week, we’re taking two further steps – today, agreement rates for the years 2002 to 2007, and tomorrow, Justice-by-Justice agreement rates for the years 2008 through 2013. Justice Baxter had an agreement rate with the … Continue Reading

Yesterday, we reviewed the Justices’ agreement rates in civil cases between 1990 and 1995 – the first in a five-part series bringing the civil data all the way up to 2018. Today, we’re looking at the years 1996 through 2001. Justice George, who succeeded Chief Justice Lucas as Chief on May 1, 1996 had an … Continue Reading

For the past few weeks, we’ve been reviewing the data on how often each of the Justices voted with the majority in non-unanimous civil and criminal cases. For the next three weeks, we’ll be reviewing a related statistic – how often did each Justice agree with each of his or her individual colleagues on the … Continue Reading

Last time, we began our review of the year-by-year data on the percentage of divided criminal cases for which the Justices voted with the majority, covering the years 1990 through 2004. Today, we’re looking at the years 2005 through 2018. Justice Baxter was reliably in the majority of divided criminal cases throughout this period – … Continue Reading

Last week, we reviewed the data for how often each Justice of the Court voted with the majority in divided civil cases. This time, we’re on the flipside – how often did each Justice vote with the majority in divided criminal cases? First, we review the years 1990 to 2004. Justice Arabian had a very … Continue Reading

Which Justices of the California Supreme Court are most likely to be in the majority in civil cases which draw dissents? Or to put it in a more practice-driven way – if you’re expecting a contentious case, which Justices’ votes are the likeliest indication of how the majority might come out? Last time, we reviewed … Continue Reading

We’ve shown several times, both on this blog and on our sister blog, the Illinois Supreme Court Review, that there are two key insights one can gain from oral argument: who is likely to win, and how each Justice is likely to vote. Is it possible to refine the model further to where we can … Continue Reading

Last time, we reviewed the distribution of majority opinions in criminal cases among the Justices from 1990 to 2018. This time, we’re looking at the length of the Justices’ opinions – who wrote the longest and shortest majority opinions? Of course, the data here is strongly affected the Court’s death penalty opinions, where majority opinions … Continue Reading

For the past few weeks, we’ve been looking at the distribution among the Justices of the Court’s majority opinions in civil cases and identifying which Justice each year wrote the longest and shortest opinions. Today, we’re looking at the data for the criminal docket. In Table 753, we review the distribution of majority opinions between … Continue Reading

Last time, we began our examination of the individual Justices’ writing habits with a review of how the majority opinions in civil cases were distributed from 1990 to 2018. Today, we’re looking at the average length of those opinions, Justice by Justice. The real lesson we see in Table 749 is that although there are … Continue Reading

For the past few weeks, we’ve been studying the average length of the Court’s opinions, looking for insights about the Court’s decision-making. This week, we’re starting a related topic: which individual Justice tends to write the longest and shortest majority opinions in civil cases? Today, step one – we trace how many majority opinions each … Continue Reading

We’ve established already that majority opinions in cases reversing the Court of Appeal are, on average, generally longer than majority opinions affirming. Last time, we showed that for criminal cases between 1990 and 2003, the result was flipped – affirmances were nearly always longer. Today, we’re reviewing the data for the years 2004 to 2018. … Continue Reading

Last time, we asked whether majority opinions in civil cases, on average, tend to be longer when the Court reverses than when it affirms. The answer was, in the vast majority of cases, yes. Today and tomorrow, we’re asking the same question in criminal cases. Surprisingly, the answer for criminal cases is the reverse – … Continue Reading

Last time, we compared the length of majority opinions at the Court in civil cases for reversals and affirmances between 1990 and 2003. In this post, we’re looking at the years 2004 through 2018. Between 2004 and 2010, in five of seven years reversals averaged longer majority opinions than affirmances. In 2004, reversals averaged 24.39 … Continue Reading

For the past few weeks, we’ve been tracking the Court’s history in terms of the length of their opinions – majority opinions, concurrences and dissents. Today, we’re looking at a related question – is there a relationship between the length of the opinion and the result – are affirmances or reversals consistently longer? One can … Continue Reading

Yesterday, we began our review of the year-to-year average length of the Court’s opinions in criminal cases – majority opinions, concurrences and dissents, beginning with the years 1990 to 2003. Today, we’re looking at the years 2004 through 2017. Across the entire fourteen-year period, there is some evidence that majority opinions have edged a bit … Continue Reading

Last week, we reviewed the year-by-year data on the length of the Court’s opinions in civil cases – majorities, concurrences and dissents. We were looking at two questions: first, are opinions getting longer (or shorter) over time, and second, is there a relationship between longer dissents and longer majorities? This week, we’re looking at the … Continue Reading

Yesterday, we reviewed the average length of the Court’s opinions – majorities, concurrences and dissents – for the years 1990 through 2003. Today, we’re bringing the numbers up to the present day. We noted yesterday that majority opinions seemed to have gotten slightly longer on average for the years 1990 through 2003. For the years … Continue Reading

This week, we’re turning our attention to a new subject – how has the average length of the Court’s majority, concurring and dissenting opinions in civil cases changed between 1990 and 2017? In studying the numbers, we’re looking for evidence on two points: are opinions getting consistently longer or shorter, whether because of the evolution … Continue Reading

About this Blog

In the next few years, data analytics will revolutionize litigation. At the California Supreme Court Review, we’ve mined dozens of data points from every one of the more than 3,000 decisions handed down by the California Supreme Court from 1990 through 2017. We use that unique database to share new insights culled from tens of thousands of pages of opinions about the Justices and their decision-making process, the parties and issues which come before the Court.